It was originally Cassie's idea, which was strange enough in and of itself since Cassie normally wouldn't be one to condone a mission like this, much less plan one out. But, this was a case where Cassie's concern for animals somewhat overrode her better judgment.

They had all gone to the new Mega Mall that had been recently built, the one across town from where almost all of them lived. Cassie, naturally, had been the first one to notice that the parrots in the Rain Forest Café were real. And, just like anyone who knew her well enough would expect, Cassie was immediately upset about how the birds were being treated.

They were in fact the subject of a great deal of teasing and annoyance, but no outright abuse as of yet. Cassie, however, wasn't one to wait until the situation degraded that far to act.

"Squuaaaakk! The food is good! The food is good! Squuuaaaakk!"

The first time Cassie had heard that, she had thought that it might be some kind of a recording. Or at the very least one of those toy parrots that could be programmed to say a bunch of different things. Cassie wouldn't have minded that, in fact she thought that some of them were kind of cute.

But these hadn't been merely clever recordings, or even those stuffed-animal looking talking toy parrots. These had been live parrots. Live parrots, who had minds and feelings of their own. Live parrots, who should never have been used as living props for this kind of place.

When Cassie had seen that she had immediately turned and asked the person standing next to her, who had happened to be Marco, what they could do to help the poor birds. After all, no animal deserved to be abused and humiliated like that.

Marco had gotten one of his famous 'thoughtful' looks, and that alone should have let Cassie know that the plan that he was about to hatch would be strange, audacious, and more than a little dangerous. But, this time, Cassie was willing to take a few risks. Such were the strength of her convictions.

At last, Marco had smiled, and said: "Parrots, right? They talk don't they?"

At Cassie's confirming nod, Marco's grin had only grown wider. When she had asked him if he had a plan, Marco had nodded and said that he definitely had a plan.

That was how four of the Animorphs ended up standing in front of the Amazon Café, just two days after that fateful conversation. The four of them were standing almost among the people that were taunting the parrots. One of the patrons was the epitome of the 'surfer dude' stereotype.

"Say 'Howard Stern rules'," he urged the bright green parrot sitting on a perch next to his bench.

"Squuaaaakk! Amazon Café! It's an adventure!"

"No, idiot bird dude," he said, sounding annoyed. "'Howard Stern Rules' man! Say 'Howard Stern rules!'"

"Moron," Rachel spat, looking at the boy as if he was something she had scrapped off her shoe.

"Yeah," he said turning to Rachel, not suspecting that she was talking about him and not to him. "This bird is a total moron."

"I wasn't talking about the bird, you little--"

Jake put his hand on Rachel's shoulder, silently urging her to keep her temper. Rachel normally had good control over her emotions, but she had always had slight problems when it came to dealing with anger. And she had never made it much of a secret that she had a strong aversion to stupid people.

"Okay, let's get this done," Jake said, getting the attention of all the Animorphs present. "Cassie, are you absolutely sure that they always clean the parrot perches now?"

"Yes, Jake. I am," Cassie said. "In fact, the woman who cleans them is coming this way now."

All four of them looked forward, and indeed there was a woman in a waitress uniform coming toward them. She looked like she was about twenty, and there was really nothing remarkable about her. In her right hand she held the handle of a large wire cage. It looked just the right size to hold the four parrots.

"Squuaaaakk! Pot stickers! Pot stickers! Squuaaaakk!"

"Okay, just so we're clear," Jake said, looking around at the other Animorphs as Tobias and Ax came over to join them. "Rachel, Marco, Cassie and I will follow her into the back room. Tobias and Ax, you two will stay behind as our backup, in case we have some trouble."

"Backup," Aximili repeated. "Ba-kup. Bakkup. Look! Is that the place where cinnamon buns are created? Oh, cinnamon buns. Bunzuh."

"Maybe after we're done here we can go to Cinnabon," Jake said, in the manner of one who was speaking to an insane person. Then he sighed, Ax would never change.

"Okay, she's going," Cassie said, drawing the attention of the other Animorphs.

Tobias quickly wished his friends good luck, before dragging Ax over to one of the benches that bordered the waiting area. The remaining Animorphs followed the woman, who had by now finished putting all four parrots into the cage that she was carrying. The four Animorphs were quiet for the most part, but Marco was humming the theme music to Mission: Impossible.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is simple: Give the parrots back their dignity and strike a blow for Mommy Earth!" Marco said in a faux-announcer voice.

Cassie rolled her eyes at Marco's antics, and Jake hid a smile behind his hand.

"You know," Marco said, trying to sound thoughtful. "I really can't believe that you're even going along with this, Jake. Responsible, down-to-earth Jake, giving his okay to a completely, totally personal use of our powers. It's because he really likes Cassie," Marco said this last part in a stage-whisper, making sure that all his friends would be able to hear.

"It's because I knew that if I didn't say yes, Cassie would have done it anyway. And then she'd have gotten Rachel, and probably you, to go along with her. And I knew that the three of you would need… someone sensible to come with you."

"Sure we did, Dad," Marco mocked gently.

Jake growled softly deep in his throat, the sound he usually made when someone or something was bugging him. Marco, who had had a lot of experience with reading Jake's moods, knew that his best friend was just kidding around. They stayed far enough away from the woman carrying the cages that they would be able to quickly break off and pretend that they were doing something else if she happened to turn around.

When she entered a doorway that led into a storage room, the four of them waited until they saw her come out again before they walked in. All the while, Marco was still humming.

"Have I mentioned shut up yet, Marco?" Rachel asked in a conversational tone.

Marco only grinned at her.

"Okay, come on you guys," Cassie said, eager to get on with their mission.

Once they were all inside the storage room, Cassie quickly went over to the parrot cage and opened it. Taking out the parrots one at a time, Cassie handed them to her friends. As they all focused on acquiring the DNA of their respective birds, the parrots became still and calm the way most animals did during the process of acquiring.

Once that task was over and done with, the Animorphs stored the parrots in a well-ventilated cupboard. Cassie had been the one to find the thing, and so it was a very safe assumption that she would approve of putting the birds there. Then, all that remained was for them to morph into the parrots. This they did at varying speeds.

Cassie was the fastest, a fact that all of the Animorphs had come to accept. Jake and the rest of the Animorphs all lagged behind to varying degrees, with Marco being the last one to complete his change.

(Well, aren't we colorful,) Marco said.

(We'd better get into the cage quick, before that woman comes back,) Cassie suggested.

Once the Animorphs were inside the cage and had had a minute to get used to their new parrot bodies, they were all surprised to discover that the minds that came with the bodies weren't at all the norm for any of the animals they had morphed. In fact, the minds of the parrots were more akin to the minds of the dolphins that they had all morphed.

For Marco, there were other similarities. He found that the parrot mind was almost exactly like the mind of the gorilla he used as his primary combat morph. It was smart enough to think for itself, to form the concept of a past and a future.

(Hey, these birds are smart,) Marco was indignant, and just starting to realize why Cassie had wanted to free them.

(Very smart. Too smart to have to be stuck out on a crappy old perch and have people pestering them all day,) Cassie said. (These parrots all belong in the rain forest, not in a mall being used as expensive props.)

(Not that we can really go around freeing all the parrots who live in captivity,) Jake said, keeping the practicalities of the situation in mind. (You do realize that, right Cassie?)

(Jake, we all know that,) Marco said, a smirk evident in his tone. (But we can still make the Amazon Café wish that they had never heard of parrots.)

Waiting for a few minutes, the Animorphs were relieved when another woman came into the room where they were being kept. They felt a slight jolt as she picked the cage up, and there was the expected sensation of movement as she carried it back out. Once they were all back out at the waiting area, there was a slight pressure on their bodies as the woman unloaded them from the cage back onto the perch.

Then, there was just the small matter of figuring out how to make their parrot morphs talk. That was something that the Animorphs did in a very short time. It wasn't all that much like speaking when they were in their human forms, since parrots had no lips. It was more akin to a ventriloquist act, in that all the sounds they wanted to make had to be formed in their throats.

(Ah, so many people, so little time to insult them all,) Marco commented, looking out over the vast sea of people who were waiting to be seated.

"Squuaaaakk! Amazon burgers are made with cat meat! Squuaaaakk!" Marco said.

"Squuaaaakk! Try our spaghetti with hair!" Rachel added.

"Squuaaaakk! Amazon Café nachos and toe jam!" Jake said, laughing inwardly.

Tobias, over at an empty table that he had claimed for himself and Ax, also laughed quietly at the antics of his friends. It was nice to watch them use their powers for something other than fighting the Yeerks and saving the world. Tobias was also happy that Ax had managed to convince someone to let him have some of their pizza without having to resort to craziness.

He still wondered what Slade would have done if he had been included on this mission. Probably whatever Jake told him to do, Tobias mused. Slade did tend to be very willing to do what Jake said, anytime and anywhere without asking questions. It was kind of strange as far as Tobias was concerned, almost like having another Ax in the group. But at least Slade didn't call Jake "Prince Jake" all the time.

And, he wasn't anywhere near as arrogant as Ax could be sometimes. Having Slade with them on missions also gave them more of an advantage in numbers, which they really needed since the Yeerks had so many more soldiers than they did. But still, no one could dispute the fact that Slade was a strange guy.

With that thought, Tobias sat back in his chair to watch the rest of the performance. It was sure to be interesting, if nothing else.

"Squuaaaakk! Botulism! Food poisoning!" Rachel crowed.

"Squuaaaakk! Enjoy the fried booger strips!" Marco said, laughing to himself.

Tobias had to work to swallow a chuckle, as all of the people who had been waiting for seats at the Amazon Café suddenly decided that they would rather go eat somewhere else. Tobias couldn't imagine why. It was only when the people who were actually sitting inside the Café began to get up and leave that the manager decided to come out and do something about the situation.

He was an older man, and even human eyes could tell the difference between his real hair and the rug that he wore.

"Squuaaaakk! By the way, is that your nose or are you eating a banana?" Marco asked.

"Squuaaaakk! What's that on your head, a wombat?" Rachel jibbed.

"Squuaaaakk! It's a toupee! It's a toupee! Squuaaaakk!" Jake mocked.

"Squuaaaakk! We should be flying free in our native habitat!"

Marco thought that what Cassie had just said was a little out of character for a parrot, even with how smart Marco now knew they were. Looking back over to the table where Tobias and Ax were sitting, Marco could see Tobias laughing and clapping softly. After that, the woman who had cleaned the perches and unknowingly allowed the Animorphs to carry out their prank, came back and took them into the storage room that they had all started out in.

Once the Animorphs had all demorphed and gotten back into their normal clothes, they placed the real parrots back in the cage. Marco was the one to peer out and make sure no one was close enough to see them when they left the room. It was clear, so Marco beckoned the rest of the Animorphs forward.

"Did you see the look on that guy's face when we all started talking to him?" Marco crowed once all of the Animorphs were safely outside the storage room. "That was priceless! Though I think you might have gone a little overboard on the environmentalism there, Cassie."

"I just said what I thought needed saying, that's all," Cassie said.

"Still, 'we should be flying free in our native habitat'? Did you think you were on Captain Planet?" Marco paused. "If you tell me you like that show, Cass, I'll lose all respect for you."

"I didn't know you had any respect for me in the first place, Marco," Cassie said, smirking at his expression. "But no, Captain

Planet was never really my favorite."

"Good. I would have said it sucked, but that's just me," Marco said.